Wheatena (cream of wheat) contains fewer calories, nutrients, and protein than oatmeal. This is the biggest difference between wheatena vs oatmeal.
Oatmeal, oats, or even bran flakes cereal are a staple in most American households. But is wheatena really the equivalent of oatmeal? Wheatena has been in production by Hostess since 1932, in which it’s an oat-like snack food made from oat groats. It may be hard to tell what makes real oats versus imitation oats when there are so many types of these products out there on the market. Let’s compare two popular breakfast cereals that are often confused for one another:
Oatmeal refers to ground oats, commonly from the hulls of oat seeds. The cereal is cooked with water and milk, and typically served with sugar or brown sugar.
Wheatena (or the cream of wheat) is made from wheat flour. The cereal is not served with sugar nor milk, but may be served with cream or butter. When the cereal is served plain, it’s still considered to be a breakfast food. This can be confusing because some people believe wheatena has more in common with oatmeal than it does with actual oatmeal; given the word “wheat” in the name, one may assume it’s similar to bran flakes (which are made from whole-wheat flour).
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Is wheatena same as oatmeal?
No. They are not the same. Oatmeal is made from oat grains, wheatena is made from wheat grains.
There are two types of wheatena: the plain variety, and the “cream” variety. The cream variety has dried skim milk added to it. While the plain wheatena contains mainly wheat cream wheatena contains nutrients like protein, iron, vitamin A and calcium – but in small amounts. The main differences between wheatena and oatmeal are in their texture, taste and usage. Wheatena has a very grainy texture; it won’t be smooth like oatmeal or even rice crispies cereal. Wheatenas’ taste is also different than oatmeal – which is smoother than bran flakes cereal for example.
One of the most obvious differences between oatmeal and wheatena is that wheatena is not served with sugar or milk, but may be eaten with cream or butter. Oatmeal is normally served with sugar or brown sugar. Wheatenas are only made by one company: Hostess. Oatmeal on the other hand can be found at many grocery stores, and often in different flavors.
Wheatena has more in common with Cream of Wheat than it does with oatmeal.
Which is healthier wheat or oats?
Some research has shown that a diet of oatmeal is more healthy than a diet of oat bran flakes or wheatenas, indicating that oatmeal has a high nutritional content. A diet of wheatenas does not have the same health benefits.
In one study done on children, it was found that children who consumed the most amount of wheatenas were more likely to be obese than children who consumed just oatmeal. Children in the study that were obese also drank less milk and had less food in general in their diets. In conclusion they found that there was a link between consuming wheatena and gaining weight in children, which means it’s best to avoid this cereal.